These basics aren't so basic anymore.

March 26, 2024

By David Godkin

When Henri Belisle, President of Burnaby, B.C.-based TQ Construction made that remark he was reflecting on his firm’s presence in Vancouver’s renovation market – first under the guidance of his father Ralph Belisle who founded the company in the spare bedroom of the family home in 1989.

What were the basics then and what are they now? Ask a homeowner and it’s always been about end product, said Belisle. “What people assume should be basic to even the simplest renovated house was not included ever years ago,” said Belisle, “for example, premium items like a heat pump, in-floor heating intricate door systems, and multi-point hardware.”

Today, don’t expect the contractor to include the cost of those items in project price, Belisle added. Jeff Bain, president of Port Coquitlam’s JKB Construction Ltd., agrees. But actual back to basics where contractor performance is concerned is driven by, among other things, technology, he says. “When I started out as a carpenter in 1979 it was all bricks and mortar, we were building boxes.”

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